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Connections, in both directions
Peter Pan (2003)
Directed by P.J. Hogan
influenced Christopher Robin (2018), Quantum of Solace (2008), Finding Neverland (2004)
Themes Plot
Directed by Marc Forster, Christopher Robin feels like a thematic cousin to Forster’s acclaimed Finding Neverland (2004), a film about Peter Pan creator J. M. Barrie that explored similar emotional terrain.
Filmmaker Marc Forster spends much of “Christopher Robin” trying to find that “Finding Neverland” sweet spot he worked so successfully in the 2004 Johnny Depp movie about James M. Barrie, the author of “Peter Pan.”
What probably got him this job, however, is Finding Neverland, his 2004 Oscar-nominated take on the story of J.M Barrie and the real-life inspirations for Peter Pan — its mix of whimsy, teeth-gnashing, fantasy, melodrama, name-brand actors and period-piece production design feels like a dry run for what he’s doing here.
Yes, “Christopher Robin” borrows a boatload of tropes from the “Peter Pan” of J.M. Barrie, the subject of Forster’s 2004 semi-biographical (very semi) film.
His "Finding Neverland" (2004) got an Oscar nomination for Johnny Depp as the author of "Peter Pan."
That leaves a rather small viewership, and is probably one of the reasons Neverland has been shelved for so long (it was shot in mid-2002, but needed to distance itself from last yearâs box office dud Peter Pan ).
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Directed by Zack Snyder
influenced World War Z (2013)
Themes Plot Music Characters Visuals
There's not a thing in World War Z that hasn't been done better in another film from these apocalypse-minded times-- the science angle evokes Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the zombie terror Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later or Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead, and the scenes of city-wide destruction could come from virtually any recent summer blockbuster.
At different points in the story, “World War Z” strongly resembles Zack Snyder’s “Dawn of the Dead” remake and Steven Soderbergh’s “Contagion,” and I suppose Danny Boyle and Alex Garland should be flattered by the Vulcan mind-meld level of rip-off perpetrated upon their 2002 near-masterwork “28 Days Later.”
Add in a soundtrack full of ominous droning and some Dawn of the Dead sleazy-keyboard noddling, and by Romero, we’ve got ourselves some seriously overwhelming spectacle.
Like the zombies of Zack Snyder’s remake of “Dawn of the Dead,” these are not the plodding creatures we are used to.
But star and producer Pitt is the general manager of this enterprise, and he shrewdly ripped a page from James Gunn’s revisionist playbook for the 2004 remake of “Dawn of the Dead.”
Even Zack Snyder‘s refried Dawn of the Dead managed to squeeze that in between head-choppings.
Pitt has more going on with Daniella Kertesz as a tough Israeli soldier, who reminded me a bit of Jenette Goldsteins hardcore Marine Vasquez in Aliens, only without the dialogue or the humor.
Two sequences in particular - the military guys preparing to re-fuel the plane in South Korea and the mission into the zombie-infested wing of the WHO building - recall scenes from Aliens.
Walking out of “World War Z,” I realized I probably haven’t felt this edgy and paranoid after a movie since … “Aliens,” maybe?
One sequence takes place in the Swiss Alps, which look a lot like the opening sequence to “Goldeneye,” and another takes places in a desert, which could be any number of Bond films but most recently recalls “Quantum of Solace.”
The events of Quantum of Solace and Casino Royale are referenced before secret identities are revealed, the daughter (Léa Seydoux) of a double agent is located, and a final confrontation between 007 and a Spectre mole in MI6 brings things to a close.
SPECTRE takes what was attempted in the spotty Quantum of Solace and combines it with the more aerodynamic Skyfall for a narratively satisfying film.
Craig breathed fresh air into the franchise starting with 2006’s “Casino Royale,” but “Spectre” is more “Quantum of Solace” than “Skyfall.”
Amongst all the chatter that the zombie concept is played out, consider that the closest these horror staples have come to a blockbuster depiction is the Resident Evil series – something that leaves ample scope for improvement.
Yes, we've seen this sort of material before (even the fast-moving zombie angle isn't fresh anymore, although seeing them pile up like raving mad army ants to scale a wall into Jerusalem was a first for me), and the finale clearly borrows its "look out for the zombies in the lab" aspect from the "Resident Evil" flicks.
The film, co-written by Damon Lindelof (“Prometheus”), Matthew Michael Carnahan (“State of Play”), Drew Goddard (“The Cabin in the Woods”) and J. Michael Straczynski (“Thor”), will feel familiar to fans of the “Resident Evil” series and Danny Boyle’s far superior “28 Days Later” (2002).
A flexible metaphor for all manner of social, cultural and political maladies, the zombie genre has, over the decades, been employed as an analogue for everything from the U.S. occupation of Haiti (1932’s Bela Lugosi starrer “White Zombie”) to the upheaval of the Vietnam/civil rights era (“Night of the Living Dead”) and the bio-panics of the late 20th century (“28 Days Later,” “Resident Evil”).
Did Lane quit, or did he get fired because of that douchey haircut?), I'd be veeery interested to see the original ending that was so unsatisfying it prompted Paramount to switch gears from "balls-out action flick" to "shelved sequence from the first Resident Evil movie."
I’d pictured someone more along the lines of a live-action version of the old guy in Up because, in a way, Otto is like the first 10 minutes of Up combined with Tom McCarthy’s The Visitor: It’s about a cantankerous old guy who is no longer interested in living after the passing of his wife, Sonya (Rachel Kellar).
If such catharsis is what you seek, à la Pixar’s 2009 Up , then A Man Called Otto is for you.
But his biggest battle is with the developers who have been throwing up ugly new apartment buildings and chopping down trees (shades of 2009’s far superior Pixar film Up ).
Truman’s performance is all wide-eyed naïveté, and his scenes, with their cutesy soft-focus cinematography and achingly sentimental needle drops, come off as mawkish imitations of the opening sequence from Pixar’s Up .
It's like the first 10 minutes of Up , spliced throughout.
But writer-director Yeon Sang-ho, making his live-action debut after a number of animated features (“The King of Pigs,” “The Fake”), has seen the same films and TV shows you’ve seen — “28 Days Later,” “World War Z,” “The Walking Dead” — and he’s out to do something different with the genre.
In many ways, it’s what “ World War Z ” should have been—a nightmarish vision of the end of the world, and a provocation to ask ourselves what it is that really makes us human in the first place.
Equal parts “Snowpiercer” and “World War Z,” the film introduces itself as the rare pastiche with enough personality to feel like something new.
The movie that “World War Z” should have been, “Train to Busan” has everything.
That’s a saving grace, especially as the zombies start swarming en masse and dominate the frame a la World War Z.
Train to Busan does a hypnotic job with its zombie effects, which owe a debt to the floodlike spilling-over aesthetic of World War Z.
Ruby Sparks (2012)
Directed by Jonathan Dayton
influenced by Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
Themes Plot
Similar to the terrific 2006 comedy/drama Stranger Than Fiction (Marc Forster), Ruby Sparks explores the idea of freewill through the intriguing concept that a real human could be the creation of a novelist.
Broadly described, the script's loopy premise recalls everything from a classic "Twilight Zone" episode (1960's "A World of His Own") to 2006's "Stranger Than Fiction."
Before “Ruby Sparks” we most recently saw it in “Stranger than Fiction,” where Will Ferrell realized he was a fictional character and tried to thwart the author’s manipulation of him.
Like Will Ferrell's most underrated starring vehicle, Stranger than Fiction , Ruby Sparks explores the creative process.
However, similar to Will Ferrell’s Harold Crick from 2006’s Stranger Than Fiction, this film’s character leaps out of the novelist’s mind, off the page and into life as a fully-formed corporeal being.
Surely no one can say the obtuse Forster is cut from the same mold as Lynch or Antonioni, two masters who are able to convey a weighty sense of spiritual crisis, transference, and ascension with as little as a zoom into a box (see Mulholland Drive ) or a long take through the bar-lined windows of a room where a man is about to die and out into a courtyard outside (see The Passenger ).
The Dog Stars (2026)
Directed by Ridley Scott
influenced by World War Z (2013), Quantum of Solace (2008)
Themes Plot
Case in point, World War Z, the Percy Jackson films, the 1984 Dune movie, etc.
…who are a heartbeat away from all the tropes of fast zombies right out of World War Z…
I was reminded of World War Z (2013), in which Brad Pitt’s character visits places that have been impervious to zombie attacks until he visits.
There’s a Quantum of Solace problem here in that Hig’s journey ends up solving a plot problem that wasn’t communicated in any kind of dramatic way…
The Bourne Identity (2002)
Directed by Doug Liman
influenced Quantum of Solace (2008)
Themes Visuals Plot
The Bourne series (The Bourne Identity, 2002, and The Bourne Supremacy, 2004, were released prior to Casino Royale) redefined the spy genre with a grittiness, intensity and relevance the Bond movies could not hope to match with their established milieu.
Forster’s cutting is fast and furious, in the style of The Bourne Identity franchise, as if the editing is designed to match the brusque, ruthless style of Craig’s Bond.
If Casino Royale is The Bourne Identity , Quantum of Solace is certainly The Bourne Supremacy.
This is the contrarian's 007, the Bond for people who would rather watch The Bourne Identity .
Trying desperately to appropriate the edge and urgency of "The Bourne Identity" and its successors, "Quantum of Solace" winds up looking merely like just another action thriller, filmed on the fly and whip-edited into a mash of spite and mayhem.
This troubled, extended final segment -- re-shoots reportedly were a cause of the film’s six-month delay -- scales back the massively populated chaos, recalling, if not matching, the tense isolation of John Carpenter’s “ The Thing .”
The standard for me in this vein remains Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's tragically under-seen 28 Weeks Later , the mere identification of which suggests that World War Z also has the misfortune of coming at the very end of a played-out thread--one peppered with a few too many masterpieces to compete against.
World War Z doesn’t push this theme, however, or really go for the sort of socio-political commentary that has elevated so many zombie films, from George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead to Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s 28 Weeks Later.
It could have been a thrilling procedural like Zero Dark Thirty, or a fascinating case study a’la Contagion, or, hell, if it wanted to drop the veneer of ‘smarts’ entirely, Forster could have just replicated 28 Weeks Later on a larger scale.
"28 Days Later" and "28 Weeks Later" got there first, and did it better, but in general it's clear: Fleet-footed zombies are better than slow ones.
That’s Cardiff, Wales, and I can’t recall the last time a movie had its climax there—was it Tiger Bay , with Hayley Mills ?
Freddie Highmore, best known as a child actor for roles in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “Finding Neverland,” does what he can with the main character of George, a disaffected teenager going to an exclusive prep school.
Partly responsible is a peppy soundtrack that's as cheery-quirky as the film hopes to be, but a large share of the credit has to go to Freddie Highmore ("Finding Neverland," "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory").
Writer and director Gavin Wiesen must treasure the irony that this earthbound Peter Pan is played by Freddie Highmore, the young actor from "Finding Neverland."
But he has already wowed as an adorably sincere scene-stealer in "August Rush," "A Good Year" and "The Spiderwick Chronicles," and ably held his own opposite the great Johnny Depp, twice, in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and the sublime "Finding Neverland."
Highmore became famous as a child actor in films like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Finding Neverland, but he's thoroughly unprepared for the challenges of an adult leading role.
The only aspect of the movie that sets it apart as truly worthwhile is the talented Freddie Highmore, who has grown up from the kid we enjoyed in "Finding Neverland" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Directed by Frank Capra
influenced A Man Called Otto (2022)
Themes Plot
The messages of being kind and living right provide is an "It's a Wonderful Life" vibe to "A Man Called Otto."
In many ways, “A Man Called Otto” is a reconfigured version of “It’s a Wonderful Life” with Otto as George Bailey and Marisol, Sonya and a stray ragdoll cat as Otto’s angels.
In Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway (1994), a character asks: if one could save from a burning building either the last known copy of Shakespeare's works or some "anonymous human being," which is the correct choice?
Before that, most of the movie is devoted to lame dialogue scenes between kooky characters in cramped ruins who just want to find a way out of this story altogether; Yeon’s take on the genre might be inspired by the horde mentality of “World War Z” and its rotting waves of the undead, but “Peninsula” itself owes more to DIY post-apocalyptic visions like “Escape from New York” and “The Road Warrior.”
Occasionally, the filmmaker uses CGI to suggest nightmarish “World War Z”-like torrents of them, adding to the film’s entertaining, if also derivative vibe.
With a bigger budget and wider lens, but a less fulfilling narrative, “Peninsula” is exactly the type of zombie flick that “Busan” was trying to combat: a movie filled with hordes of CGI zombies that plays more like a quick game of “Left for Dead” or a knockoff of “World War Z” than an inspired sequel.
During the 20-minute chase from the center of town to the port of Incheon, they swarm as they did in “World War Z,” like so many CG lemmings, plunging from bridges and ambling into the roadway.
While the human threat poses a potentially greater danger than the zombies, Peninsula still features a whole mess of the undead, flowing like tidal wave of gore, similar to the first film or to World War Z .
The clumsy CGI takes a page from the “World War Z” playbook, with zombies piling upon themselves to become even more menacing.
The movie’s climax (part of the rewrite from the original film) is a cat-and-mouse sequence in a lab that pays homage to Alfred Hitchcock’s 50-year-old contagion thriller, The Birds, but the comparison isn’t flattering.
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Directed by George A. Romero
influenced World War Z (2013)
Plot Themes
Most movies about the flesh-eating undead rising and taking over the world imply that it is a worldwide phenomenon, but focus their narrative attention on a single location (George A. Romero established this quite brilliantly in 1968’s Night of the Living Dead, which takes place almost entirely in and around an isolated Pennsylvania farmhouse, but conveys the enormity of the event via radio and television broadcasts).
Decades ago, in George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968) the LD were friends of George’s volunteering on a $114,000 picture.
Starting with George Romero’s no-budget Night of the Living Dead in 1968, zombies have signified any number of automatic, implacable drives – the folly of the Vietnam War, rampant consumerism, class struggle, or the “I’m with Stupid” emblem of such literary mash-ups as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies or Hamlet Z.